In this era, before the Great Pirate Era was ushered in by Gol D. Roger, bounty values hadn't yet experienced the runaway inflation seen in the future.
A bounty exceeding 50 million Berry was enough to make a pirate feared across the seas.
And the man standing on the main deck of the skull-flagged ship had a bounty of 100 million Berry.
He was Captain Sparrow, a famous pirate from the West Blue. A former crew member of the legendary Captain Jack's ship, he now likened himself to the Angel of Death.
His reputation was built upon a mountain of corpses and his power as a user of the Zoan Devil Fruit: Vulture.
That morning, Sparrow was enjoying a bottle of rum in his captain's chair, surrounded by about twenty of his crew members who were relaxing.
At the lookout post atop the mainmast, a deckhand was peering out at the open sea. Suddenly, his binoculars caught an unusual movement in the water.
"Captain Sparrow!" the deckhand shouted from above, his voice panicked. "There's a raft approaching us at a very—"
CRASH!
The sentence was never finished.
A blue flash sliced through the air. The body of the deckhand holding the telescope was split in two, fresh blood spurting out and staining the ship's sail a thick red. His body fell with a thud onto the deck, startling the entire crew who had been laughing.
Where the deckhand had stood just a second ago, atop the ship's main mast, a young man clad in animal-skin robes now crouched. Quentin Seven stared down with a pair of blood-red eyes, each with two pupils. In his right hand, he held not a rifle, but a long sword formed entirely of a blazing blue flame.
The heat from the blue-flame sword was so extreme that the wooden mast where Seven stood immediately sizzled, charred, and melted into charcoal within seconds.
"Intruder!" shouted one of the crew. "Kill him!"
The twenty brutal pirate crew members immediately drew their weapons. Flintlock muskets were aimed, swords drawn from their sheaths.
Seven leaped down from the mast, landing right in the middle of the crowd like the Angel of Death.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets whizzed from all directions. Throwing knives flew deadly fast. Yet, what happened next made Captain Sparrow, still seated in his chair, widen his eyes in disbelief.
The young man danced.
With a gaze fused with the Sharingan, Seven moved with the characteristic efficiency of the Uchiha clan. He merely tilted his head for a split second to let a bullet pass, took a half-step to dodge a sword slash, and twisted his shoulder to evade a throwing knife. Not a single movement was wasted. Not a single attack touched his skin.
Then, Seven struck back.
"Shunshin no Jutsu."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seven's body seemed to split into a dozen shadows moving in unison. His blue flame sword swung mercilessly. Screams of pain echoed across the ship's deck.
Limbs were severed, fatal burns were inflicted, and the smell of charred flesh instantly overpowered the scent of the sea. It took less than three minutes for the twenty savage pirate crew members to fall lifeless in pools of their own blood.
Now, only two people remained standing face-to-face on the burning deck. Seven and Captain Sparrow.
"You little bastard…" Sparrow growled, hurling his rum bottle until it shattered. He drew his serrated twin swords. The veins on his forehead bulged as he held back his rage.
"You've got a decent ship. I'm taking it," Seven said flatly. His blue flame sword slowly faded, reabsorbing into his body. Instead, both of Seven's fists instantly turned a glossy jet black.
"Don't get cocky just because you took out my minions!"
Sparrow lunged forward. His speed far surpassed that of an ordinary thug. His twin serrated swords were also instantly coated in black.
Weapon Haki!
TRANK! BOOOM!
Seven's fist and Sparrow's dual swords collided violently in the middle of the deck. The shockwave from their Haki clash blew up the wooden barrels nearby and cracked the ship's floorboards.
Sparrow gritted his teeth. His hands trembled violently as he braced against the young man's punch. His eyes widened in shock. What kind of physical strength is this?! And his Haki… it's incredibly strong! Sparrow thought to himself.
However, instead of feeling afraid, a greedy grin appeared on Captain Sparrow's face. His cunning mind raced. This foreign boy is a monster.
If I can break his leg and subdue him here... I'll have an incredibly strong right-hand man!
With him, I could even challenge the monsters of the Grand Line!
"Hahaha! You're pretty good, kid! But against the power of a Devil Fruit, you're nothing!"
Sparrow leaped backward. His body suddenly swelled and cracked. Thick, dark brown feathers sprouted through his clothes. His face elongated into a sharp beak, and his arms transformed into giant wings spanning eight meters.
He transformed into his Full Zoan form: the Giant Vulture.
As soon as his transformation was complete, Sparrow immediately charged forward. His curved talons and sharp beak, all coated in dense Armament Haki, pecked and slashed at Seven relentlessly.
Close-quarters combat erupted once more on the increasingly shattered deck. Seven used his quick reflexes and Armament Haki in both arms to parry and dodge the giant vulture's attacks.
Every collision between Seven's fists and Sparrow's steel wings sparked flames and shockwaves that tore through the ship's remaining sails.
Amid the fierce exchange of blows, Seven found an opening. He concentrated his chakra in his hands and unleashed a burst of blue fire at close range.
Whoosh!
The blue fire struck true, burning a patch of feathers on Sparrow's chest and wings. The giant vulture screeched in shock and pain. Realizing his opponent was deadly in close combat, Sparrow decided to create distance and exploit his absolute advantage.
With a single flap of its massive wings that created a fierce windstorm on the ship's deck, Sparrow soared high into the air.
Seven didn't stand idly by. He kicked the ship's deck until it shattered, shooting up into the air like a rocket to chase after Sparrow, his hands once again shrouded in blue flames.
However, Sparrow, in pain from his feathers burning, flapped his wings with all his might, flying higher and higher until he reached the edge of the clouds, beyond the reach of a normal human's vertical leap. Gravity finally pulled Seven back down, landing smoothly on the ship's railing.
From hundreds of meters up in the air, Captain Sparrow laughed heartily, seeing his opponent could no longer pursue him. His voice echoed with arrogance and triumph.
"HAHAHAHA! Take that, you damn kid! My power is to rule the skies! You'll never be able to reach me up here..."
That arrogant laughter suddenly stopped. It turned into a chilling silence.
The hairs on Sparrow's neck, still in the form of a vulture, suddenly stood on end. A heat far more terrifying than any fire suddenly appeared right behind his neck.
In the empty air where there should have been no foothold, a small, translucent blue cat appeared. Its two tails of flame swayed gently. Matatabi stared at the back of the vulture's neck with its yellow and green eyes radiating a condescending sneer.
"Too noisy. Do you think this sky belongs to you, Ugly Bird?" Matatabi whispered, her voice elegant yet soul-freezing.
Before Sparrow could dodge, Matatabi's tiny claws extended into razor-sharp blades.
SRAAAK!
The claw strike cleanly ripped through the base of Captain Sparrow's neck. Fresh blood gushed into the air like a fountain. Sparrow's eyes rolled back, turning white. His consciousness vanished instantly due to the excruciating pain and fatal nerve damage.
His Zoan form slowly faded back into human form as his body plummeted freely.
From the ship's deck, Seven calmly gazed up at the sky, watching Captain Sparrow's body crash down with a terrifying crunch of breaking bones, right in front of the tip of his shoe.
Up above, Matatabi licked her clean claws, then slowly faded back into particles of blue flame drifting down toward Seven.